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Boswarlos is a part of mainland Labrador (Port au Port Peninsula).
Boswarlos was first settled by Captain Andrew Harvey, who operated the lead mine in East Bay. He named it Boswarlas around 1873 after the farm in Penzance, Cornwall, where his wife Honor (Tregear) grew up, but most people called the Methodist community "The Farm".
The Harveys had three daughters and four sons. Captain Harvey went to Wisconsin as a mining engineer and then to Tangier, Nova Scotia. He arrived in Newfoundland in 1873 with two Mi'kmaq guides, and soon found 75% lead in the Lead Cove area. His mine started in 1874 and employed 30 men until it closed down three years later under pressure from the French.
He then started a lobster factory at Boswarlos, having the lobster fishing rights from Shoal Point to Jack of Clubs Cove. A second lobster factory followed in 1901. Bill Compagnon worked for him, and Michael Abbott was his tinsmith who founded the Abbott part of Abbott & Haliburton. Dried salt cod, pickled herring and cod oil were also produced.
The 1891 census showed Bas Carlos (sic) with 42 residents, and The Creek with 69 residents. The 1892 House of Assembly Journal tabled a report from the previous year about the East Bay communities, including Boswarlos and The Creek: The soil in this section is rich and good, and extends on an average two miles inland, from the seashore as far as The Gravels. At the latter named place we entered the Peninsula of Port au Port, where there is only a quarter of a mile from sea to sea. After leaving the Gravels we followed on our route in the direction of the Creek. Here the hills were much nearer the shore, so that the good land did not extend so far inland; but such as there was was of most suitable quality for agricultural purposes. At East Bay, Port au Port, the soil was of superior quality, and we found the settlers very comfortable there, and depending as elsewhere in the district, to a large extent, on the land for a living.
The Harvey family built a log church and a log school, with Parson Sheaves as the first permanent clergyman and a Miss White as one of the first teachers. Honor died March 6, 1905, and Andrew died February 13, 1907. Captain Harvey's granddaughter. Ivy Spencer, ran the first post office.
Early settlers cut their hay at Shoal Point, on the north side of Piccadilly Harbour, where grass grew with wild peas and provided superior forage. Oil was found at Shoal Point by a Mr. Bell who worked for the Western Oil Company of New Brunswick. He found oil at 800 ft. and six wells were sunk at that depth. The flow was too low to justify a commercial operation, but one shipment was made. The suggestion was made that the oil was somewhat lower than 800 ft. but deeper wells were not dug. An English company followed in 1908 and also made one shipment. The wells still produce oil used by local fishermen as lubrication oil.
Mining activities continued in the late 1800s, but mining was not a commercial activity until 1911 when the Aguathuna limestone mine opened and employed many local residents. The mine opening also stimulated local agriculture, with three full-time farmers listed for 1921, when the community had 138 residents, and a school with 30 pupils. In 1922, a butter factory opened in Stephenville, a boon to farmers at Port au Port East and West and The Creek.
Abbott & Haliburton opened a store in 1938 and bought lobsters until it closed in 1957. The 1976 population was 308, including six fishermen operating a longliner and inshore boats to catch cod, salmon, herring, lobster, mackerel and scallops.
The combined population of Boswarlos and East Bay (Statistics Canada Subdivision D) was shown as 871 in 1981, a drop of 111 from 1976, with 165 listed as being of French origin. Boswarlos has three churches: Anglican, United and Pentecostal.
Of 190 men in the workforce in 1981, 45 were in construction trades and 35 in primary occupations. Of 80 women in the workforce, 55 were clerks. Residents work in Stephenville at the mill, in retail stores and in garages, but there aren't a lot of local jobs and many businesses have closed. School children travel by bus to Port au Port West and East and Stephenville.
Place names in the Boswarlos area:
Costa Bay
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